Electrical-switch inclosure or cabinet



Aug. 28, 1 923.

B. D. HORTON ELECTRICAL SWITCH INCLOSURE OR CABINET Filed May 26 1922Patented Aug. 28, '1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BRYSON D. HORTON, OE DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 SQUARED COMPANY OFDETROIT, MICHIGAN, A

ELECTRICAL-SWITCH CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

INCLOSURE OR CABINET.

Application filed May 28, 1922. Serial m5. 563,848.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BRYSON D. HoR'roN, a citizen of the United States,residin at Detroit, in the'county of Wayne and tate of Michigan, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Electrical-Switch Inclosures orCabinets, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming apart of this specificationl This invention relates to an electricalswitch inclosure or cabinet, and more particularly to an improved meanson the said cabinet for holding and securing the grounding lug. I

The National Electrical Code in this country requires that all serviceentrance switch cabinets or inclosures be suitably grounded and that theenamel with which such inclosures or cabinets are usually finished beremoved at the place where the grounding lug is attached to the box soas to insure a good and positive electrical connection.- In practicethis is not always done, and it is the purpose of the invention toprovide improved means whereby such a positive electrical connectionbetween the grounding lug and the wall of the. en-

closing cabinet can be more readily obtained.

One of the objects of this invention, there-.

fore, resides in the production of an improved means on the wall of theinclosing cabinet which is utilized in attaching the grounding lug tosaid cabinet whereby turning and rotating of the grounding lug isprevented.

Another object of the invention resides in the production, of improvedmeans on the side of the switch incloslng cabinet whereby 1 positive andgood electrical contact may be readily obtained on both the inside andoutside of the cabinet where the grounding lug is attached to the wallof said cabinet.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescriptions; the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

To facilitate the description, the accompanying drawings have beenprovided in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a service entranceswitch inclosure with the cover opened and illustrates the method ofattaching the grounding lug.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the service switch inclosure illustratingthe grounding Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the means provided toimprove the electrical connection between-the grounding lug and thecabinet- F ig. is a view in cross-section taken on 'tihe planerepresented by the line 44 of ig. '5 is a. sectional view taken on theplane represented by the line 55 of Fig.

ance with this invention by throwing "up two projections onthe outsideof the cabinet wall and two further bosses on the inside of the cabinetwall of the et'wall are preferably made parallel} spaced apart adistance to The projections "on the outside justfacco in te the'width ofthe ground ingluggg' thus spacing these projections,

since itis permanently held in position between these two parallelprojections. These parallel projections'also serve as a convenient guidefor a screwdriver which is ordinarily used to remove the enamel from thecabinet wall. The bosses on the inner face of the cabinet wall arepreferably thrown up on said wall at substantially right angles to theprojections on the outside of said cabinet-wall. These inner bosses areformed to present a blunt edge from which the enamel can be readilyscraped by a knife orthe edge of a screwdriver and these scraped edgesserve to make good and positive contact with the nut which serves tobolt the grounding lug to the outside of the cabinet turning of-ithegrounding lug is prevented,

wall between the aforesaid parallel outside may be of any desired type,which switch inclosure is provided with the exterior operating handle11. In the inclosure are positi0ned the service switch consisting of theblades 12 and 13 and the fuse receptacle 14 and 15. The switch may beconnected to the load and service circuit in any desired manner, but forthe purpose of illustration in the drawings, the wires 16 and 17represent the service wires; the wires 18, 19, 20 and 21, the meterwires, and the wires 22 and 23 the load wires.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the grounding lug 24 is connected to theside wall of the inclosure or cabinet. This lug can readily bepositioned at any desired place.

The grounding lug 24 is positioned on the side wall of the cabinetbetween the two parallel projections 25; and 26, thrown up from the sideof the cabinet. (See Figs. 3, 5 and 6.) These projections 25 and 26 arespaced apart so asto just conveniently receive the grounding lug 24, andbefore the grounding-lug 24 is placed in position a screwdriver or othersharp instrument is drawn over the face of the cabinet wall be tween theprojections 25 and 26 to remove the enamel from the cabinet wall betweenthe projections. In this operation the projections 25 and 26 serve as asuitable guide for the movement of the screwdriver.

The grounding. lug is preferably secured to the cabinet by means of abolt 27 and its associated nut 28. In order that good and positiveelectrical contact may. be obtained between the nut 28 and the wall ofthe cabinet, two bosses are upset on the inner face of the cabinet wall.These bosses 29 and 30 (see Figs. 3 to 6 incl.) serve as a receivingsurface for the nut 28 when it is drawn tight to secure the groundinglug 24 to the wall 0f the switch, inclosure 10. The enamel with whichthe inclosure is finished is scraped from the top part of the .bossesbefore the nut 28 is drawn tight,

so that good electrical contact will be obtained between the nut 28 andsaid bosses.

It will now be evident that according I to the teachings of thisinvention the grounding lug 24, when placed in position ,.in its properposition by the bolt 2 on the service switch cabinet or inclosure, isheld in this position between the parallel projections 25 and 26, andthat good electrical contact between the bottom face of the groundinglug 24 and .the wall of the cabinet will be obtained when the enamel..finish from the wall is removed by means of a screwdriver. Also, thatby the use of the bosses 29 and 30, which are preferably placed at rightangles to the projections 25 and 26, good electrical contact is obtainedbetween the binding nut 28 and the wall of the cabinet. The projections25 and I 26 prevent any rotary motlon of the grounding lug 24, saidgrounding lug bein held and its cooperating nut '28 in conjunction withthe projections 25*and- 26. Without the use of the projections 25 and26, the grounding spirit and scope of the invention as set'out in thefollowing claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a device of the character described,in combination, the wall of a switch inclosure comprising outwardlyextending projections, inwardly projecting bosses,

means inserted through said wall adjacent said projections, and agrounding lug, said projections and bosses cooperating with said meansand lug to insure good electrical contact between the said wall and thesaid lug.

2. In a device of the character described,

" in combination, the wall of a switch inclosure comprising paralleloutwardly extending projections, inwardly projecting bosses, meansinserted through said wall adjacent said projections, and a groundinglug positioned between the parallel outwardly projections, saidprojections and bosses cooperating with said means and lug to insuregood electrical contact between the said wall and the said lug.

3. In a device of the character described, in combination, the wall of aswitch inclosure comprising two parallel outwardlyextending projections,two inwardly projecting bosses positioned substantially at right anglesto the outwardly projections, means inserted through said wall adjacentsaid projections, and a grounding lug, said projections and bossescooperating with said means and lug to insure good electrical pontactbetween the said wall and the said 4. In a device of the characterdescribed, in combination, the wall of a switch inclosure comprising twoparallel outwardly extending projections, two inwardly projecting bossespositioned substantially at right angles to the outwardly projections, aground lug positioned between said outwardly projections wherebyrotation of said grounding lug is prevented, a bolt passing through saidgrounding lug between said parallel projections and said inwardlyprojecting bosses, and means cooperating with said bolt to draw saidrounding'lug into electrical contact with t e cabinet rwall between saidoutwardly projections and ta insure electrical contact between thebosses and the securing means,

5. In a device of the character described, said lug being prevented fromturning, dura switch inclosure comprising a wall, a ing thetighteningof, said securing means, 10 grounding lug, means comprisingprojecby said projections. v I tions positioned alongside of said lug,In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub- 5 bosses projecting from saidwall, and securscribed my name. i

ing means bearing against said bosses for BRYSON D. HORTON. holding saidlug against said wall and com- Witness: pleting good electrical contacttherewith, THOMAS J KAUFFMAN.

